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BY JACQUELINE SMALL and DANTE FUOCO

In print | Published November 19, 2009

In an effort to address the current challenges the college faces from last year’s economic downturn, the Ad Hoc Financial Planning Group on Friday released its recommendations for $6.85 million in budget cuts for the 2010-2011 academic year.

The Ad Hoc Financial Planning Group’s recommended budget cuts for next academic year are more substantial than changes already made for this year. The college claims that the changes already in effect — such as freezes on staff and faculty salaries, use of emergency reserves and a temporary suspension of building and maintenance projects — aren’t sustainable endeavors for the college to continue in the future.

While the planning group’s recommended budget cuts are substantial, members of the Student Financial Advisory Panel and Student Council said at a presentation to students last Saturday that the Ad Hoc Financial Planning Group aimed to make these across all areas of campus — “shared sacrifice,” as they called it.

The college will cut $2.5 million from facilities and capital projects, push for more fundraising from alumni and reduce the athletic, academic and administrative budgets. If approved by the Board of Managers, these cuts will go into effect in the 2010-2011 academic year.

“[Vice President for Finance and Treasurer] Sue Welsh and Financial Aid are doing a good job, so we’re doing well compared to peer institutions like Harvard, Williams and Yale,” SFAP member Nick Malinak ’10 said at Saturday’s presentation. “Still, the level of spending must change. No one expects a full and complete recovery.”

These recommendations, however, only account for roughly $6.85 million of the expected $8 million in cuts. According to the release from the college, the remaining $1.15 million will be addressed in the upcoming academic year and put into place for the 2011-2012 school year. Overall, the college’s goal is to make cuts that will be sustainable over the long term while still retaining the core values of Swarthmore.

SFAP’s presentation on Saturday — called “What’s Going On?” — was more informational than discussion-based. Most students listened to SFAP and StuCo members explain the planning group’s recommendations and asked only a few questions. StuCo President Rachel Bell ’10 estimated that there were about 30 or 40 people in attendance.

“It was great to see that so many Swatties took time … to participate in this important dialogue,” StuCo Vice President Nate Erskine ’10 said. “I thought that the SFAP members did a fantastic job of providing their peers with a lot of detail.” Sunday’s StuCo meeting showed more student involvement, with many of the attendants asking questions and volunteering for task forces to “start to meet or talk with the relevant people,” Bell said in an e-mail. A few people, for example, volunteered for a financial aid task force.

The Board of Managers will deliberate about whether to adopt the planning group’s recommendations on Friday, Dec. 4 and Saturday, Dec. 5. The Friday meeting, which will be fully devoted to discussions on the budget, will be closed. On Saturday, however, there will be two student observers at the meeting and an open student luncheon.

At Sunday’s meeting, StuCo members and other attendants expressed a concern that Friday’s closed meeting would not allow for enough student input.

Bell said in an e-mail that StuCo members are hoping to change that. “We are working on getting a student observer, or at least being able to make a presentation, in addition to submitting a formal statement expressing opinions of students which board members will receive with the rest of their preparation materials,” she said.

There was significant concern from students and StuCo members at last Sunday’s meeting about the 2.1 percent reduction to financial aid. The options of how to reduce spending on financial aid are still under discussion. Some expressed a concern that the department may need to return to giving loans, instead of the current no-loan policy.

StuCo members discussed three options that could be taken. They include increasing the expected hourly work study from 7.5 hours to 10 hours, increasing expected summer earnings and reinstating loans. Bell said, however, that if loans were to be reinstated, they would be brought back at a much smaller scale than the ones from before the college went loan-free. She noted that the eventual decisions could be a combination of these three options.

The council added that historically, financial aid has always been the easiest thing to raise funds for among alumni and that the administration remains committed to need-blind admissions. “We need all of you to brainstorm so that the Financial Aid department isn’t the only one making these decisions,” Bell said.

Dermot Delude-Dix ’10 expressed his dissatisfaction with the planning group’s recommended cuts to financial aid. He said that recommendations for cuts in financial aid put more of a burden on students receiving financial aid. “The ad-hoc committee already declared that the budget for the honors programs is too important to cut, why not say the same for financial aid? Students need to stand up to the Board of Managers and tell them that we find this part of the proposal simply unacceptable,” he said in an e-mail.

Faculty and staff benefits will be reduced, which many students found deeply troubling. “I was particularly concerned that the school was going to cut funding from the benefit bank for employees, and I’m glad that they’re not planning on doing this,” Maddy Reichman ’13 said. “I’m still not satisfied, though, about the reductions in benefits for employees.”

The administration is trying to find alternate healthcare plans for faculty and staff.

The academic budget will have a 4.6 percent reduction. There will be no firings, but when professors retire, they may not be replaced. Department expansions will also be postponed and salaries will increase at a lower rate, while remaining competitive. The budget for the Honors program will not be reduced, though departments will be encouraged to bring in local examiners to reduce the cost of travel and housing. There may be a reduction of wages for student jobs, like tutoring.

The library budget will be reduced by 3.5 percent with fewer subscriptions to periodicals. As of now, there will be no printing limits for students, but that option may be discussed in the future.

Athletics will face a 3.1 percent reduction in budget. Teams will take fewer overnight trips and there will be fewer subsidies for meals and banquets. Across the entire Centennial Conference, the preseason has been shortened to reduce costs to member colleges.

Information and Technological Services will not encounter new cuts in addition to the ones they had last year, but there will be fewer computers in dorms.

Worth Health Center will not deny medical care because of a student’s financial difficulties, but Bell said that “we need students to use insurance when they do have it,” Bell said.

She added, “We’re not at the point where we need to change any of our core values.”

Erskine expressed hope that “we can maintain an environment where students see the administration as a partner in working out the budget adjustments.” He commended several people, including Welsh, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Jim Bock ’90, Acting Dean of Students Garikai Campbell ’90, Registrar Martin Warner and Assistant Vice President and Controller Eileen Petula for expending a lot of effort to ensure a good channel between students and the administration.

“They really deserve the appreciation and the thanks of the student body,” he said.

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